Aastra Intecom takes its virtual contact center service to the channel 16 May, 2007 By Chris Talbot

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There are a large number of call center agents in the U.S., and while the market for call center seats with premises-based equipment has been declining because of offshoring, the market for virtual (or hosted) call center managed services is growing, said Charles Henderson, director of marketing at Aastra Intecom. It's the one part of the call center market that is growing in North America.

With its Centergy Virtual Contact Center and Centergy Virtual Contact Center Express, Aastra Intecom offers hosted contact center applications for its customers. Since the company first went to market with its services, it has had a direct sales model, but now the company is turning to the channel for continued growth.

"We operate our own hosting center here in Dallas, and we are currently selling that product direct. However, we are trying to build a channel. ... We have created a channel program around the idea of people selling our product, but all they have to do is sell it. We handle the customer side, our contract. We handle the implementation, training, service, support, maintenance -- all of that is built into the monthly price for the end-customer. The resellers will receive a monthly annuity commission," Henderson said.

This basic resell model is how the company will likely work with most of its partners, and it's really the simplest and easiest way for VARs and distributors to expand their businesses into the virtual contact center space. It allows them to offer new applications or broaden their existing applications to become more of a business consultant than just a vendor supplier, he said.

For channel partners that prefer to have more client control, Aastra Intecom will also work with channel partners in a more traditional model, in which the partner deals directly with the customer and gets contracts signed. Partners can also opt to get the service branded with their company name instead of Aastra Intecom's so that it looks like, for all intents and purposes, the reseller is providing the service.

"One of the beauties of the virtual environment is that there is no hardware or software that has to be sold, delivered, implemented on the customer site. Everything exists here," Henderson said. All the customer needs is a PC capable of running Microsoft Internet Explorer and a phone that the hosted call center service can direct incoming calls to.

The service offers everything that a call center needs, but instead of logging in or setting various states on a phone, it's done via the Web, Henderson explained.

"That means because it's completely virtual like that, I can overlay my product over anybody's telephony infrastructure," he said. The service also includes features such as IVR, ACD, skills-based routing, call monitoring, agent coaching capabilities, real-time reporting, full historical reporting, call center voicemail and an application bridge. MSRP is $150 (U.S.) per month per agent.

Centergy Virtual Contact Center is currently most attractive to SMBs, mainly because smaller companies either don't have a formal call center system and need one or because they have a call center system that's not meeting their needs and would be too expensive to upgrade, Henderson said. With Aastra Intecom's service, SMBs can get everything they need for a call center without having to worry about managing the technology themselves.

For customers that need only basic functionality, there's Centergy Virtual Contact Center Express.

"In many cases, that's what those people need most -- to appear to be much more professional to the outside world and to be able to measure and track the calling rates in their packages," Henderson said.

For resellers, it's another tool. Although some customers will be happy with the Express version, resellers can also use it as a way to get their customers to try it out before committing to the full version, he said.

Additionally, for the companies that already have -- and are happy with -- a premises-based call center package, they can subscribe to the service at a reduced price. The service only comes online when the customer activates in (usually in case of emergency), at which point they're charged for the full price for usage.

"The application is designed to be so simple to use from an agent's point of view that the transition from the existing application to ours would be fairly straightforward and wouldn't pose an enormous burden," Henderson said.

Aastra Intecom launched its channel program about three months ago, and the company is currently looking for partners of various sizes.